Coming Home
by IfIwereJane
Summary: /Post finale/ It's been a month since Arthur came back, and Merlin has lost quite a few of his possessions in the process.
1. Coming Home

**Coming Home**

It's 6pm when Merlin comes home that night. He has had a long, tiresome day and he wants nothing more than to settle on his couch to watch crappy TV. But as always in Merlin's life, fate has decided against it, and he has not even finished closing the door that he is tackled to the ground.

"What on earth… –Arthur!" he groans, his bottom aching from the fall.

"Shush!" mutters Arthur, "they'll hear you."

Merlin rolls his eyes and tries to get free from Arthur's grip but the blonde seems quite determinate to keep him in place.

"Ok, fine" Merlin surrenders –as always. "What is it this time? Is it the microwave? The vacuum? Please, don't tell me you've crashed the phone again, you know I need it for work."

Arthur doesn't answer, still worried by a new threat in this new life. He looks around them as if they are going to be attacked at any moment. He seems genuinely convinced that something is wrong yet again and if Merlin hadn't been used to Arthur freaking out every time he discovers something modern, he could actually believe their life is at stake.

Arthur eventually lets go of Merlin and draws Excalibur from behind his back. Merlin automatically feels annoyed.

"What did I say about Excalibur?" he growls.

"It _is_ a matter of life and death, Merlin." Arthur replies with a death glare.

"It was also a matter of life and death when you destroyed my radio last week."

"The device was being aggressive!" Arthur ripostes.

"It was just a rap song."

"I don't know what rap is, but I'm pretty sure it is not good sorcery."

"It has nothing to do with sorcery, it's _music_!"

Arthur gives him a thoughtful look for a minute but then he shrugs and regains his composure.

"Nah, it was a curse." He declares, stubborn. "I know what music sounds like."

"God, you drive me nuts" Merlin whines.

"That is not the point, the enemy is among us."

Arthur returns his attention back to the living-room ahead of them, Excalibur in hands.

"It's been a month, Arthur, have you not read the diary I gave you?" Merlin sighs.

Arthur suddenly looks sheepish and decides that his feet are far more interesting than Merlin's reproachful look. When it's clear that Merlin won't drop the disapproving glare, Arthur groans.

"I'm not done yet," he admits, uncomfortable. "In my defense, there are far too many pages, and you didn't even try to make it interesting" he adds with annoyance just after, because he _is_ king Arthur –whatever Merlin says about Queen Elizabeth II– and he ought to have been given a shorter version.

"You're a lazy prat, you know that?"

"Shut up, Merlin, you may not be my servant anymore but I demand some respect."

Merlin snorts and finally gets up. He puts enough distance between him and Arthur so that the king won't be able to grab him again.

"What are you doing, you fool?" If Arthur's voice is any indication, he's on the verge of panicking. "Get down now, this is not safe!"

"I've lived here for twenty years, this apartment is completely safe. There's nowhere safer than here."

Merlin has had enough. He has worked twelve hours straight and all he wanted to do was to get some rest. It could be hilarious if Arthur didn't have this kind of panic attack twice a day, but after a month, the prat is getting on his nerves.

At first, it had been such a wonderful feeling to have Arthur around. Merlin had waited for what seemed like eternity, and that morning he had felt pulled irresistibly to Avalon would be forever etched on his memory. Arthur was home again, and so was he. Strictly speaking he had never left, but Camelot without Arthur never felt quite like home.

But now Arthur is back, apparently to prevent some kind of dark threat that is to come in the following months. It has been awkward at first, to get to know each other again. Everything is to be seen in a different light. Merlin is no longer Arthur's servant and Arthur is no longer the king –even if he insists on the fact that he is still _a_ king. Merlin is a sorcerer and that means redefining their entire relationship for Arthur. He has accepted that Merlin is still his friend, but he can't help but reconsider their past together for a few days.

However, the heavy atmosphere was gone by the end of the first week and their easy banter was back. They had missed each other, even if they would not confess it again after the long –and awkward– hug they had shared on the shores of Avalon. After all, pretending to be annoyed with one another has always been their favorite activity.

Arthur was curious and frightened by the amount of novelty, he still is, and Merlin has given him a diary he had kept in the hope that someday, Arthur would come back. And now that he was indeed back, Arthur had to adapt.

Which was a long and painful and annoying process, or, as Merlin would call it 'a daily pain in the ass'.

"But dark magic is here," Arthur whispers, catching back Merlin's attention. "It has found a way in."

Merlin takes the bridge of his nose between two fingers, not even trying to hide his irritation.

"Just tell me what it is so I can go back to my life," he sighs, resigned.

"It's a magic trap, why are you not bothered by the threat Merlin? Do you have a death wish?" It's Arthur's turn to be annoyed. Merlin is always cool about all these strange things around them, so calm and composed in this new world, and he never seems to understand the dangers.

"Where's the magic trap?"

"Are you ignoring me?"

"No," Merlin exhales.

"You don't take it seriously, do you?"

"Arthur, you made me come home twice this week because you were afraid of the shower, why would I take it seriously today?"

Arthur opens his mouth to complain, but decides against it at the last minute and mumbles:

"Fine, the magic box is in the living-room, it has taken at least two people hostages."

Merlin stares at him for a minute, disbelieving, and then goes to the living-room to discover that the magic box is in fact the television that Arthur accidentally turned on. He is still annoyed but he switched it off without a word.

"Problem solved" he says. "Now give me Excalibur, I intend to keep my television."

Arthur seems a bit shameful but gives Excalibur in silence before he sits on the couch. Meanwhile, Merlin goes in his room to hide Excalibur again, feeling a bit more tired than he was a minute before.

When he comes back in the living-room, Arthur is reading Merlin's diary, probably looking for the definition of a television. Merlin remains silent and take a book to sit on the opposite end of the couch.

Another crisis has been overcome and silence takes its rightful place for a while.

Later, Arthur puts down the diary and throws a thoughtful look at Merlin.

"I'm really trying to adapt, you know?" he says quite timidly –which is odd, Arthur is never nervous around Merlin. "I'm sorry I need you so much, Merlin, and if that helps, that doesn't mean I still see you as my servant –because I don't."

That gets Merlin's attention and he gives Arthur a questioning look.

"I wish I could have been here with you all those years, that would have made your life easier on so many levels," Arthur continues. "I'm lost here. It looks nothing like my world and everything like yours, and it _kills_ _me_."

"What are you talking about?"

"I feel like I don't belong anymore… Like _we_ don't belong anymore. And –don't get me wrong– I'll always be glad to annoy your sorry ass, but not like this, not when it feels like I'm losing you again."

Merlin feels quite puzzled and has no idea how to answer, which leads to an awkward minute of silence until he finds his tongue again.

"I'm the one who lost you," he finally utters.

"I never slept," Arthur answers. "I could have, but I chose not to."

"Why?" Merlin has to ask, surprised.

"Years after years, I saw my family and friends join me, after some time, I understood that you would never come. And I couldn't sleep knowing you were wandering alone somewhere in the world. You're not the only one who lost a friend on the shores of Avalon, Merlin."

"Are you declaring your undying love for me?" Merlin smiles, suddenly feeling cheeky.

Arthur blushes and gives Merlin a death glare.

"I'm trying to be nice," he says in a reproachful tone.

"No, you're trying to get out of reading the book, you lazy prat."

"Am not."

Merlin gives him _the_ look and Arthur yields.

"Fine. This book is stupid."

Merlin laughs, his mood improved by Arthur's display of his usual royal self, and he resumes to his book.

But minutes later, he realizes that Arthur is staring blankly at the wall in front of them and he feels he has to intervene.

"You shouldn't worry about losing me," he says with a gentle tone.

Arthur snaps out of his thoughts to gaze at him.

"I know I'm not really patient anymore but you have to give me some credit, I've never been patient before." At that, Arthur smiles knowingly but says nothing. "But we're in this together, as always."

Arthur nods, his smile a bit shy but sincere.

"You belong here Arthur, because as the dragon once said, we're but two sides of the same coin. That means you'll belong everywhere I am and I'll belong everywhere you go."

"Works for me," Arthur grins.

There is another strange moment when they look at each other without anything more to add, and it feels a bit embarrassing even if they can't quite put their fingers on the reason why. It could have become far more uncomfortable if Arthur didn't clear his throat after a while:

"You still have to bring me breakfast in bed though."

"Gods, I hate you," Merlin complains.

"No you don't," Arthur beams proudly.

"I do, I definitely do. You're a pain in the ass."

"Says the man who can't shut up about his _boring_ work."

"Not my fault if my students are idiots."

"I should meet them someday, I'm quite curious to discover how someone can be more of an idiot than you."

"I'd rather be dead than to bear with you at my work place."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, professor Merlin."

"Drop it already Arthur, I'm not bringing you to my work. You'd make a mess of everything."

"You're such a girl," Arthur mocks.

"Says the man who is afraid of the shower."

"The water was aggressive!"

"And I'm the idiot."

Arthur suddenly gets tired of Merlin's quick wit because he never seems to win anymore, so he settles for hitting Merlin with one of the cushion as a mean to win the argument. They wrestle for a while but they end, tangled on the ground, in tears of laughter.

That night, Merlin is still tired, but he agrees to take Arthur out of the apartment to have dinner. There's an incident with the cab because they are evil and Arthur demands a horse. There's another incident at the fast food when Arthur insists on asking for something that isn't on the menu and the man in front of him finally loses his temper –'how dare you, I'm a king!' Arthur has said with outrage, 'And I'm a bloody princess!' has been the waiter's answer. Besides, when they're home at last, Arthur is so glad to have survived that he can't shut his mouth about everything. And Merlin really wishes he could complain and tells him to 'shut the fuck up', but he can't quite bring himself to it when Arthur looks so happy to have been a part of his world even if it was for some long and painful minutes. So he tries to explain to Arthur the purpose of a television.

Arthur decides that he is definitely fond of the thing and forces Merlin to watch it for hours. And Merlin is annoyed and tired, and really, all he desires is for Arthur to finally understand everything he has to learn of this new world. But when he feels Arthur's head collapsing on his shoulder and sees that the king has finally fallen asleep, he can't bring himself to care anymore.

Because Arthur is here, and if there's one thing certain in this appalling new world, it's that Arthur will always be home.


	2. To Adapt

_Hello,_

_After your nice reviews, I decided to add a little chapter to my one-shot as a thank you, here it is, hope you enjoy. :)_

* * *

**To adapt**

.

When Merlin comes back from work, the flat is suspiciously silent and tidied. He is already interiorly fretting because it's been four months since Arthur came back. And in four months, Merlin has grown accustomed to coming home to his flat in an apocalyptic state with Arthur worrying over this or that. And if there's not at least something broken in the room, then Arthur is in trouble somewhere outside.

Merlin always locks the flat so that Arthur can't go out. But Arthur has escaped before, to save some passing damsel in distress he had seen through the window. The problem is that, according to Arthur, a lady making a phone call in street is a damsel in distress. And when Merlin tries to explain to him what a phone is, Arthur is still convinced it's an aggressive device attacking everyone's head.

So if Arthur is indeed outside, Merlin will have an exhaustingly long evening –possibly night.

"Merlin? Are you home?" Arthur's voice is coming from his room and Merlin is so relieved he could hug him –even if they both have tacitly decided it is not something to do again.

Merlin puts down his suitcase and joins Arthur in his room.

He finds him lying on his bed with Merlin's computer before him and the TV's muted but it's on nonetheless. Merlin's jaw almost falls to the ground.

"What are you doing?" he squeals.

"I finished the diary so I thought I would try and practice to see if I've learnt my lessons well. Don't be such a girl about it, Merlin." Arthur grins.

"You know I have all my courses on this computer, don't you?" Merlin is definitely _not_ panicking.

"I'm on the Internet, your files are safe. Your password wasn't that hard to guess, you might want to change it, unless you want some hackers to get into your hard-drive."

Merlin opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water before he can find his words:

"Who are you and what have you done with Arthur Pendragon?"

"You might want to check the oven, I think the lasagnas are ready." Arthur answers in a shrug.

"I think I'm having a stroke." Merlin mutters.

Arthur rolls his eyes, closes the computer and throws a disapproving glance at him.

"Do you want me to call a doctor?" he asks nonetheless. "I believe I finally get how to use the phone."

"What happened to you?" Merlin screams. "Have you been hit? Injured? Are you ill?"

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

Arthur can't help but smile, because he gets a sense of how Merlin must have felt for four months. His friend really has been patient.

"I think I'm adapting at last. Isn't it what you wanted?" Arthurs inquires.

Merlin nods tentatively, still shocked.

"Does it mean I don't have to repair the shower today?"

"I took a bath."

"Ok, now I need to sit."

And he lies down on the bed next to Arthur who cannot suppress a laugh.

"You don't need to make a scene, Merlin, I still need you to go outside."

"I'm not making a scene." Merlin protests with a dirty look. "You have been a royal pain in the ass for four months –four months, Arthur! And now you're telling me that the same Arthur who destroyed the phone twice this month knows how to make a phone call?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Arthur shrugs.

"A surp–… oh, that's just brilliant!" Merlin is now really upset. "Did you set fire to the apartment last week just because you needed more time for your surprise?"

"That was an accident." Arthur confesses with a sheepish look. "I was experimenting."

"Exper–… I need to get out."

With that, Merlin raises and violently slams the door on his way out.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Arthur sighs, getting up to catch his coat.

It takes him one minute to find Merlin's spare key in his forgotten suitcase and three more to get out of the building without losing his way.

Once outside, he throws a worried glance at the streets. He may be successful in domestic adaptation, but he still needs some lessons about the outside world. However, he decides to trust Merlin's diary and not to rush back inside to fetch Excalibur.

* * *

Merlin knows he shouldn't have reacted so strongly to Arthur's surprise. He should have been proud and relieved… but he has spent four months nerve-wracked because of the prat. He has been more patient than he would have thought possible and Arthur is just an insufferable and ungrateful prat.

Merlin stops in the park in front of their flat and sits down on a bench near a fountain lit up by colored lights. He remembers the first time Arthur saw it, months ago. He insisted on staying more than two hours in the cold wind of April just to watch it. He asked if it was Merlin's doing, suspecting some magic in it, and when Merlin explained how it worked, Arthur declared it to be the most beautiful creation he had ever seen. It had been the very first time Arthur weren't afraid of something new and Merlin cherishes the memory dearly.

And he really wishes he could feel the same now: proud and a little bit too caring for their own good. But truth be told, at this moment, he's the one who is afraid.

"Are you quite sure your magic isn't doing this?" Arthur's voice teases behind him.

"Hundred per cent positive." Merlin retorts.

Arthur takes it as a silent agreement and sits next to Merlin. They stay still for a while and then Arthur nudges Merlin's shoulder.

"I'm not done with you yet, Merlin." He jokes.

Merlin doesn't answer, his gaze lost in the fountain.

"Remember that crazy stuff your dragon said about us being two faces of a coin?" Arthur insists.

"His name was Kilgharrah."

"Does it really matter?" Arthur rolls his eyes.

"It matters to me, he was my friend."

"Don't be a killjoy." Arthur whines. "Kilgharrah may be dead, that doesn't mean he's not right anymore. Arthur wouldn't go very far without Merlin."

"You think I'm mad because you can move on now?" Merlin sounds incredulous.

"No, I think you're mad because you've waited thousands of years and it feels like I'm leaving again. I think you're more afraid than you're mad."

Merlin remains silent but he's rigid.

"Listen, I know you're mad and stuff, but we really have to go home now." Arthur says, getting up to try to hide the embarrassment in his voice.

"What did you do?" Merlin sighs.

"I forgot to switch off the oven before I went after you."

Merlin grunts and he rushes back towards the apartment, Arthur on his heels.

* * *

When they get there, their flat is still intact and the lasagnas are just a bit too grilled but they eat it anyway.

And Merlin is still not speaking to Arthur.

But Arthur doesn't complain, because he knows that Merlin is not really mad at him. It's Merlin's turn to adapt to a new situation. So he pretends everything is normal and speaks to Merlin as if it's not troubling him not to receive any answer from his friend. And when he goes to bed, he wishes Merlin a good night just like every other nights and hides his cracked heart in his bedroom.

* * *

Merlin is aware that he should have said something to make Arthur feel better… Scratch that, he should have tell him he's proud and encourage him. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, even when Arthur left the room with a barely concealed heartbroken smile.

At first, he had thought he was mad because Arthur has behaved like the proper prat he is, and there's probably a bit of that in his reaction. But the more he thinks of it, the more he realizes that Arthur was right in the park: he's afraid.

For he may have complained every single day about Arthur's adaptation process, now that they're actually getting there, it feels like losing him over again. Because it means Arthur is getting closer to a normal life, which means he's getting closer to wanting to live that life… Which means Arthur will leave one day. And since there's no world to save, no servant or king to be, Arthur will live in his own flat and have his own life. They'll just be friends, hanging out from time to time. And Merlin is not ready to face that.

He is finding out that he is ready to fix the shower every weeks if that's what it takes to keep Arthur by his side. Because he has spent too many centuries waiting for his return and when you wait for someone for that long, it messes with your head –and your feelings. He would stay awake and tell Arthur what he missed all night long if needed. He would repair any piece of furniture without blinking… He would do all these things he complained about if that means they'll stay together in this flat forever –or at least for a while longer.

Merlin lies down on his bed, slipping under the covers and sighs heavily. He is now realizing how hard it is to be reasonable when Arthur is concerned. And it feels like his epiphany is too late and he's now the one who has to adapt and move on.

* * *

Later that night, Merlin is woken up by the sound of his door but he doesn't bother to move, feeling sleepy. He already knows who it is anyway. Arthur tends to visit him at night, either to be a pain in the ass or just to check on him.

The first time Arthur has explained he's checking if Merlin's still here, Merlin has found it weird. But he's grown used to it by now, he knows Arthur has troubles at night since his long sleep in Avalon. That's why Merlin doesn't move an inch when Arthur lies down next to him.

But he does react when the blond puts his back fully against Merlin's. Arthur has never been shy when it comes to physical contacts, but this one's intimate and Arthur doesn't do intimacy –not since the episode of the awkward hug anyway.

"Couldn't sleep." He mumbles in response to Merlin's surprise. "See, I still need you." He adds to ease up the tensed atmosphere.

Merlin doesn't answer, but he doesn't move away either.

"I have a whole bunch of excuses ready to justify why I'm gonna stay with you forever." Arthur declares eventually. "Each time you doubt it, ask for one."

Merlin nods slowly and he knows that Arthur is close enough to feel it.

"Now, go back to sleep and we'll never mention this moment –or any other that should arise– ever again. Do we have a deal?" Arthur's voice is tensed, as if he is trying to sound tougher than he really feels.

"Deal." Merlin mutters, his heart beating just a nod too fast.

Arthur smiles and crosses his arms while he bends his head back to touch Merlin's.

"Good night, Merlin." He whispers.

He feels Merlin moving and it's hard not to protest, but then there's Merlin's forehead resting between his shoulder blades and he's out of breath.

"Good night, Arthur," comes the muffled answer against the fabric of his shirt.

They're still dancing on the bridge between consciousness and dreams, still in this precious moment where they're sleepwalkers on the thin line of possibilities, when they both acknowledge that there is something new between us.

And they will have to adapt.

_Fin._


End file.
